*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Alex Weir
Appearances: 9 Goals: 3
Date / Year of birth: 20th October 1916
Position: Striker / Centre-back
Season of first appearance: 1948/49
Season of last appearance: 1948/49
Also played for: Stoneyburn Juniors (Scotland), Preston North End (0), Waterford United (Ireland), Shelbourne (Ireland), Glenavon (Northern Ireland), Ballymena United (Northern Ireland), Glentoran (Northern Ireland), Hartlepools United (0), Middlesbrough (0), Millwall (0), Tranmere Rovers (0), Watford (5,0) and Northampton Town (0)
Scottish player born in Bathgate, West Lothian who started his career with Stoneyburn Juniors in 1935 before being transferred to Preston in February 1936.
After leaving Preston at the end of the 1935/36 season Alex moved to the Republic of Ireland and in October 1936 he signed for Waterford.
In August 1938 Alex joined Shelbourne and helped them win the FAI Cup for the first time in their history during the 1938/39 campaign. He also led their scoring chart with ten goals.
In August 1939 Alex crossed the Irish border to play for Glenavon who were based in County Armagh and in December 1939 he linked up with Ballymena.
In April 1940 he was part of the Ballymena side who beat Glenavon 2-0 at Windsor Park, Belfast to win the Irish Cup, only the second time Ballymena had ever won the trophy. It completed a remarkable double for Alex - featuring in two national cup-winning teams on either side of the Irish border in successive seasons.
He left Ballymena in the summer of 1940 and signed for Glentoran where he spent four seasons up to and including 1943/44. Alex also guested for Hartlepools, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Tranmere and Watford during World War II.
In December 1945 he returned to England on a permanent basis and signed for Watford. Alex made five first team appearances for the Hornets during 1945/46 and 1946/47, four of them in the FA Cup, before moving on to Northampton in September 1947. He was released by Northampton at the end of the 1947/48 campaign.
In July 1948 Alex was appointed as Margate's player-manager in succession to Charlie Walker aged only 31 but his stay at Hartsdown Park proved to be short-lived.
Alex made his debut in a 1-1 draw with Gillingham Reserves at Hartsdown on 21.8.48 and impressed with his excellent distribution. Despite being a natural striker he quickly found himself playing as a centre-back but adapted well to the role. He scored his first goal for Margate in a 5-4 FA Cup defeat at Sheppey on 18.9.48 and found the target twice more in a total of nine appearances for the club. The last of them came in a 5-2 defeat at Ashford on 30.10.48 that turned out to be Alex's final match in charge. The local press reported that he missed six open goals during the game and as a result he was barracked by the travelling Margate fans. The defeat was Margate's third in a row and Alex was sacked, although many years later he recalled things somewhat differently.
During his time at Hartsdown Alex had his bicycle stolen from the ground in a robbery which also saw the intruders steal much of the team's kit.
After leaving Margate Alex returned to Northampton and he then embarked on a what turned out to be a remarkable worldwide coaching / managerial career.
He started off at Wembley before moving to Switzerland to take charge of Berne on a salary of £120 per month in May 1950.
Alex led them to the Swiss 1st Division and to the semi-finals of the Swiss Cup and then had short spells as coach to the national teams of Switzerland and Burma.
Alex then took charge of the Icelandic national side for some World Cup qualifiers before doing some coaching in France.
When he returned to the UK in 1955 Alex moved to Edgware and became licensee of a pub in Hornsey, near Haringey. In November 1955 he became manager of Athenian League club Hayes.
He moved on to Letchworth Town in the summer of 1956 and spent two seasons in charge there, leading the club to the Delphian League title during 1957/58.
Alex became Hendon's manager for the 1958/59 campaign and combined the role with coaching at Mill Hill School until taking over as landlord of the Bird In Hand pub, Crouch End in 1959.
In October 1959 he returned to Hayes as manager and led them to the quarter finals of the FA Amateur Cup during 1959/60 before leaving the club at the end of the season.
Alex's managerial career ended with a two year spell at St.Albans, he was in charge there for the 1961/62 and 1962/63 campaigns.
In 1986 he retired to Thanet, moving to a house in Westgate-on-Sea, and in November of that year he was interviewed by the Thanet Times about his career.
Alex said of his time at Margate "I relished the job...because it was a challenge and I was disappointed that circumstances over accommodation forced me out." He remembered Jimmy Evans as being "a promising local lad" and regarded Len Dunderdale as his best signing. Alex told the paper "Just as we were getting it right I was obliged to go because of housing problems."
He also discussed his time with Berne, saying "despite not speaking fluent German I think I always got through to the players" and Alex mentioned that he'd met many prominent world statesmen during his time in Burma. They had included Tito, Sukarno and the Indian President Prashad.
The article said that Alex was "chirpy" and looked "considerably younger than his 71 years". He told the interviewer "I would still like to assist a local club, perhaps in a coaching capacity" adding "My interest in football is as keen as ever."
For many years after that Alex could often be found watching local amateur football on the ground near his Westgate home and he would sometimes volunteer advice to the players during breaks in play.
He died aged 86 on 10.1.03 in the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1948/49 (MFC) |
9 (41) |
N/A |
3 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (10TH OF 18) |
PR |
2R |
2R |
1R |
|